PORT ARTHUR, Texas — Progress is being made on a project that would protect areas of Southeast Texas from coastal storm surge.
This $863 million "Port Arthur Hurricane Flood Protection Project" is a partnership between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Galveston District and Jefferson County Drainage District 7.
This project is part of the USACE's $4.4 billion "Sabine Pass to Galveston Bay (S2G) Mega Project," also designed to enhance the levee systems in the communities of Freeport and Orange County.
"Hurricane Laura as you all will remember in 2020 for a period of time was pointed directly towards Port Arthur and if Hurricane Laura had hit Port Arthur we would have expected those levees to be overtopped," said Deputy District Commander Lt. Col. Ian P. O'Sullivan.
Project Manager Garrett Sullivan tells 12News these new and improved levees are crucial for a city like Port Arthur.
"It's important for the community, to not only protect the residents, because a lot of the residents work and support the petrochemical facility, but it's also important to protect the plants because it impacts the entire united states," Sullivan said.
Sullivan says the petrochemical plants in Port Arthur make up 10% of nation's daily production of oil.
The USACE has successfully raised some levees in the city from 16.5 feet to 20.5 feet.
They're now focusing on strengthening levees by changing the structure from an "I" shape to a "T" shape.
The new phase of construction will focus on protecting and maintaining three of Jefferson County Drainage District 7's pump stations.
"So, that will allow those pump stations to continue to provide great service to the system. It also provides some cut off walls in some of the levees which will protect against seepage. It provides armament of some of the levees in the for of rock around the toe and the base of the levees," District Commander Col. Rhett Blackmon said.
Next year, another segment of the project will be up for bid including building new concrete flood walls in Port Arthur.
"So, in Orange there's not a current federal system for coastal storm protection. So, while we are just improving systems in Shreveport and Port Arthur. We're gonna be building a system from scratch in Orange," Blackmon said.
The entire project is expected to be completed by 2031.
Community members will soon be able to ask questions in person at upcoming open houses for the project.